105 FIG. 16 (facing page): Malu plaque. East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. 19th century. Wood. H: 181 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased from Anthony Forge, 1977, inv. 1977.799. Before the fi rst quarter of the twentieth century, these plaques were created by the Sawos people, who are northern neighbors of the Iatmul people. The majority were collected from the Iatmul and further downriver. Very little is known about them, as their ritual use had ceased by the 1930s, if not earlier. However, we can be sure that they were highly valued and once had great importance. The body of this plaque consists of multiple birds, either fully realized or in fl owing interlocking designs with only the head of the bird being recognizable. The plaque depicts a mythic ancestor with elaborate nose ornaments and raised cheek circles representing painted designs worn by a successful headhunter. The hooked section is often suggested to be a rack for skulls, yet there are no fi rsthand accounts of these plaques being used this way. One belief is that they are connected to funerary rights for young men who died during initiation. They also have been noted as being marriage dowry, which may explain why most were collected from places distant to the Sawos people. FIG. 17 (left): Mask. Porapora River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Early–mid 20th century. Frontal section of pig skull, fi ber, feathers. H: 18 cm. Ex Max Ernst. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, inv. 1985.1871. This object, created from a section of pig skull, was once in the collection of Dada pioneer and Surrealist Max Ernst. It is one of only a handful known and its ritual function is unknown. It is too small to be worn as a mask and may have been attached to a larger costume or object or even held during performances. FIG. 18 (upper right): War horn, kuuk. East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. 19th century. Wood, smoke-encrusted patina. H: 54.2 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, inv. 1970.69. Some horns commemorate the owner’s or the community’s fi ghting achievements with notches carved onto the horn as a tally of heads taken. This horn does not have a tally;, however, the medial ridge below the ancestor head has signs of deliberate scraping. This is likely to have resulted from the practice of removing small parts from the ancestral “body” for the ritual transference of ancestral strength. Slivers of potently charged wood from an ancestral body, in this case a war horn, would be ground into food, usually a soup, to be imbibed by warriors preparing themselves supernaturally to undertake a headhunting raid through the absorption of ancestral power. FIG. 19 (right): Ancestor hook with the personal name of Kipma Tagwa. Torembi Village, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Mid to late 19th century. Wood, shell. H: 104.5 cm. National Gallery of Australia, inv. 2014.683. This fi gure has the personal name of Kipma Tagwa, referring to the earth, ground, or land with clan associations. Kipma Tagwa is shown with her hands clasping drawn-up knees in a birthing position with two hooks directly below believed to be for the suspension of human heads. Offerings would be ritually given to the spirit of Kipma Tagwa to ensure a good relationship and gain her aid, especially in times of hardship.
T76En_internet
To see the actual publication please follow the link above